Rituals
by MissMelysse
Summary: A father-daughter moment between Data and Elizabeth (or, when Zoe can't be home for Bedtime, Data has to do the honors). CRUSHverse. Takes place about ten months before the Centaurus parts of BEDTIME STORY. Data/Zoe implied. Fluff and sweetness. Oneshot.


_**Disclaimer:**_ _You know the drill. CBS/Paramount owns all the canon characters and settings, and I'm just playing in the sandbox._

 _ **Continuity Note:**_ _This story takes place about four years after the events depicted in_ _ **Star Trek: Nemesis**_ , _and ten months before the Centaurus scenes in my story_ _ **Bedtime Story**_ _._

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 **Rituals**

 _ **February 2384**_

 _ **Harris Farm, Fair Haven, Centaurus**_

Daddy had been away on a long mission, Mommy had explained. Now he was home, and Elizabeth knew Mommy was happy to have him around, but _she_ was still a little nervous around him. What if he left again?

Mommy had come to her room to play for a few minutes before she left for work. She was in Tech Week, which meant she left the house with her hair in a pony-tail, and didn't come home 'til Very Late. "I have to leave for the theater now, Lizzie-Bee. Daddy's going to do Bedtime with you tonight."

"All by his own self?" Elizabeth was skeptical. Daddy had never done Bedtime without Mommy before. "He won't know what to do."

Mommy had laughed her laugh that sounded like music, but she didn't explain what was funny. Instead she said, "You'll just have to help him, then, won't you? Can you do that?"

Elizabeth had said she could. Then Mommy had given her a big hug and said "I love you," and "Be good for Daddy."

And then she had gone.

Daddy had fixed their dinner: macaroni and cheese – her favorite. "Mommy says this is 'comfort food,'" she informed him.

"She once told me the same thing," Daddy said. "I served it to her on more than one occasion when she was younger."

"As young as me?" Elizabeth knew Mommy and Daddy had known each other forever, but she wasn't exactly sure how long forever was.

"No. She was older than that. Older than your Uncle David is now."

"Oh."

After dinner, Daddy filled the tub for her, and stood outside the bathroom door until she was ready to get out. Then he'd wrapped her in the biggest, bluest, fluffy towel they had and made her all warm and dry, and helped her put on her nightgown.

He had read her one chapter of her favorite book. He even did all the voices, and he was better at it than Mommy.! (She imitated the characters, but Daddy really _sounded_ like them.) Now he was completing the rest of Bedtime.

"I have refilled your water," he told her, setting the glass down on her nightstand. "What must I do now?" Elizabeth was almost positive Daddy knew exactly what to do, but she liked being in charge.

"Check the closet," the little girl told him. "Make sure there aren't any monsters."

Dutifully, her father opened the closet door and made a show of checking every corner. "There are no monsters," he promised, stepping back and starting to close the door.

"Wait!"

"Do you wish me to look again?" Daddy's golden skin was shiny in the light from the closet. Like a superhero. Or an angel.

"Leave the light on, please?"

"Will it not disturb your sleep?"

"Not if you close the door. I'll only see the light around the edges."

"Ah."

Clearly, Daddy didn't understand. "Monsters are afraid of light," she explained. "They can't beam into the closet if the light is on."

"Ah!" Daddy said again. This time she could tell he got it. He paused, and bent his head slightly toward her. "What do I do next?"

"Now you look under the bed, just in case."

Daddy was stiffer than Mommy when he got down on his knees and lifted the bed skirt to look underneath, but he didn't grunt like Mommy when he stood up again. "There are no monsters under your bed, Elizabeth," he informed her. He was wearing his serious face. She liked his serious face. It made her feel safe.

"Now line up all the animals at the foot of the bed."

Her father reached for the first of Elizabeth's six stuffed animals, "Is there a particular order in which they should be arranged?" he asked.

"Yes. First Bella Bear, then Troy Tribble, then Gorlock Giraffe, then Tempek Targ, then Reg Raven."

Daddy put them all in order, then held up the remaining stuffed toy. It was purple, and much larger than the other five. "What about Selev Sehlat?"

"He goes on the pillow." Daddy reached across her to place her favorite toy next to her head. "Now you make sure my toes are covered up, and my hands are under the covers, and I'm all tucked in, up to my chin." She grinned at her rhyme. Mommy would have commented on the rhyming words, but Daddy didn't.

Instead, he asked, "Will you not be too hot with the covers pulled so high?"

"I only have to be covered 'til I fall asleep." Didn't Daddy know _anything?_ "Monsters can't get you once you're asleep, only when you're getting there."

"And the blankets provide protection?"

"Monsters can't get through blankets, Daddy. Ev'rybody knows that. Mommy says they're 'pervious."

"I believe you mean ' _impervious_ ,'" he corrected.

"Yes, that's what I said." She was quiet for the space of two heartbeats. "What does 'perv…' I mean 'impervious' mean?"

"It means," Daddy told her in his quiet voice, "that little girls who are under the covers are safe from monsters."

"That's what I thought."

"Have we completed your ritual?" Daddy asked.

"What's a ritual?"

"A ritual is a custom, a habit, a prescribed order of actions, a routine…" He trailed off. Probably because Elizabeth was giggling. "Bedtime is a ritual," he added.

Elizabeth nodded. She loved it when her father listed things. "There's one more thing, Daddy. You have to kiss my forehead and tell me it's time to sleep."

Daddy's face softened into a smile. Mommy always said that Elizabeth's smile was her favorite, and Daddy's smile was her second-favorite in the whole galaxy, but personally, Elizabeth thought it was kind of goofy. Still, when he bent over her to kiss her forehead, she felt as safe as Dorothy after Glinda bestowed _her_ kiss before she went down the Yellow Brick Road.

"It is time to sleep, Elizabeth. Please do not be afraid. Your mother will be home before you wake up again, and I will ensure the monsters do not harm you."

Elizabeth smiled at Daddy. She knew he meant what he said. "Goodnight, Daddy. I love you."

"I love you, also," Daddy said. He turned off the light, and left her room, closing the door almost all the way, but not quite. "Sweet dreams"

Elizabeth smiled into the semi-darkness of her bedroom. Bedtime with Daddy might just be her favorite ritual now.

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 **Notes:** Elizabeth's (Elizabeth Lal Harris-Soong) birthday is 31 October 2378, which makes her five years old in this story. The story itself was an accident – I was meant to be writing something dark for HorrorDailies, and I couldn't get to a dark place; this happened instead. I don't want to explain Elizabeth's biological origins in this story, since I haven't yet posted her actual origin story (at least as of 3 October 2016). Feel free to PM me if you really want to know.


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